Notes from Underground, White Nights, The Dream of a Ridiculous Man, and Selections from The House of the Dead

The compelling works presented in this volume were written at distinct periods in Dostoyevsky's life, at decisive moments in his groping for a political philosophy and a religious answer. From the primitive peasant who kills without understanding that he is destroying life to the anxious antihero of Notes from Underground—who both craves and despises affection—the writer's often-tormented characters showcase his evolving outlook on our fate.

Endorsements

"An author whose Christian sympathy is ordinarily devoted to human misery, sin, vice, the depths of lust and crime, rather than to nobility of body and soul." — Thomas Mann

"Notes from Underground is an awe- and terror-inspiring example of this sympathy." — Thomas Mann